Q & A
I only worked while my husband was in medical school. What will happen when I retire?
Complete Question: My husband was my high school sweetheart. We’ve been married for 19 years and together for 30. Since he is a successful doctor, I only worked part time during high school and college, and then full time while he was in medical school. Since then I’ve been a stay at home mom. So I doubt I would qualify for Social Security when we retire and even if I did, my benefit would probably be low due to my earnings and short number of years working. So will I get any Social Security at all?
Answer: You do need a minimum number of credits to qualify and from what you said, it does sound like your benefit would be minimal if you qualified. However, you will probably get a larger benefit than what you qualify for on your own record because of your husband’s earnings as a doctor. Social Security eligibility rules can be complicated, but even without knowing the exact earnings involved in your situation, it sounds like you’ll be just fine no matter what. Here are a few scenarios that may happen when the two of you reach retirement age (I’m assuming you are approximately the same age since you were high school sweethearts):
- When you both decide to retire, you will be eligible for a spousal benefit. You will be paid either your spousal benefit (50% of his benefit) or your own benefit, whichever is larger. Based on what you described, your spousal benefit will likely be larger.
- You divorce – Since you’ve been married for over 10 years, after 2 years of divorce, you will be entitled to a spousal benefit (provided you are retirement age).
- You become widowed – As long as you do not remarry before age 60, you are entitled to 100% of his benefit.
Keep in mind that the situations above have nothing to do with maximization strategies, and taking any benefit before full retirement age will reduce these amounts. However, these will be your options in the simplest form. The Social Security law created spousal benefits for people like you who did not work much, if at all, to stay at home and take care of their families.
Just a quick reminder, though: Social Security is not meant to be your entire retirement income. If you and your husband can manage to start (or continue) saving while you are still young, Social Security will be there to supplement your savings.